About the network

Malta
Content provided by:
European Judicial Network
European Judicial Network (in civil and commercial matters)

There are three (3) EJN contact points in Malta at present. Coordination amongst these contact points is ensured by the fact that the said contact points work in the same office and liaise constantly with each other regarding all matters arising from the operation of the network in Malta. These contact points have set up systems of cooperation between them, which in turn bring about more efficiency in the operation of the network, especially when it comes to providing information to private practitioners who require information.

About the national network

  • Legal Aid

The Transmitting and Receiving Authority in the area of Legal Aid is the Advocate for Legal Aid, who operates from the registry of the Civil Courts, the Law Courts, Republic Street, Valletta, Malta.

  • Serving Documents

The Office of the Attorney General, situated at The Palace, St. George's Square, Valletta acts as the Central Authority both as a Transmitting Agency as well as the Receiving Agency in the area of serving documents. It takes care of sending request forms and of receiving documents for service from foreign transmitting agencies, which documents are then passed on to an appointee at the Law Courts for service according to the procedural laws of Malta applicable to service of documents.

As part of its activities in serving documents, the Office of the Attorney General in its capacity as Transmitting and/or Receiving Agency, also liaises with applicants and/or their legal representative pending service.

  • Small Claims

The competent forum in this section is the Small Claims Tribunal, which operates from the Law Courts in Valletta. Appeals from decisions of this Tribunal are then heard by the Court of Appeal in its Inferior Jurisdiction, also operating from the Law Courts in Valletta.

The competent authority in each case depends on the residence of the person against whom enforcement is sought. The Court of Magistrates (Malta) and the Court of Magistrates (Gozo) have competence in respect of enforcement issues and also for the purposes of Article 23, pursuant to Article 10 (4) of the Small Claims Tribunal Act (Chapter 380 of the Laws of Malta).

  • Taking of Evidence

The Central Body is the Office of the Attorney General in Valletta.

The Requested Courts are:

  1. The Civil Courts, First Hall
  2. The Civil Court (Family Section)
  3. The Court of Magistrates (Malta)
  4. The Court of Magistrates (Gozo) (Superior Jurisdiction ) or (Inferior Jurisdiction)

The Courts have the jurisdiction to execute letters of request made in terms of Council Regulation (EC) No 1206/2001 on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil or commercial matters.

Last update: 22/05/2017

The national language version of this page is maintained by the respective EJN contact point. The translations have been done by the European Commission service. Possible changes introduced in the original by the competent national authority may not be yet reflected in the translations. Neither the EJN nor the European Commission accept responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice to see copyright rules for the Member State responsible for this page.